Chapter 9
Building house
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: (Pro.9:1)
A house has to be founded on the rock and not on the sand. The teachings of Jesus on the Mount should serve as the foundation of our spiritual life. Seven pillars are to be raised from this foundation. They are righteousness, justice, holiness, humility, love, obedience and perseverance. Seven shows perfection. If a child of God follows these seven traits, he or she becomes perfect.
Beasts, wine and table
She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table (Pro.9:2).
The wisdom in you has to eliminate the beasts in your life. The beasts are ego, anger, dominating attitude, boastful attitude and accusing attitude. Everyone of us has spiritual wine that is being extracted by the Holy Spirit through our life. It is unique and different from the wines of other believers. We have to mingle it with the wines of other believers so that we can have a wonderful wine. This is called fellowship in the Word.
The wisdom in you is unique and is different from the wisdom in other believers. This wisdom produces a unique wine in your spiritual life which has to be shared with the other believers. It has to be shared on a table around which all of us have to be seated. The mixed wine is placed in a bottle on the table. Today, this is not done. Only the pastors or the evangelists give their wines to us in their own bottles. There is no table to be placed there.
Maidens and City
She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled (Pro.9:3-5).
The unique wisdom in you has got her maidens. The wisdom is referred in feminine character because the wisdom is likened to a mother who begets spiritual children. The maidens are those saints in the body of Christ who take upon themselves the lowly and humble function of disseminating a truth to the whole body of Christ. The maidens are the humble carriers or messengers who cry upon the highest places of the city. The city is typical of a society or a community who are extravagant in their material lives. There are innumerable Christians who live a kind of such material life without sharing the same with the other members of the Body of Christ. They are likened to the rich man in the parable of Jesus who suffered in the hell because they have forgotten the poor Lazarus in their midst. There are also many Christians who live comfortable lives or who do not want to come out of their comfort zones for the sake of evangelism. All these people are likened to the inhabitants of the city. They have no vision of “evangelism”. Literally speaking, they are not bothered about the people living in villages who have not heard the gospel.
The wisdom or her maiden exhort the people living in the high places of the city to come and eat of “my bread and drink of the wine” which she has mingled. The wisdom speaks of “my bread” here. It is the body of Christ which is being shared as the spiritual bread of life among the saints in a local church. Everyone of us can claim this as “my bread” which gives us healing in our bodies and which causes miracles in our lives. This bread multiplies the few loaves of bread and the two fishes in our plates. It is exclusively your bread that gives spiritual strength in your spirit and physical strength in your frail body.
The wisdom in me has mingled my wine with the wines of other saints and has enabled me to have fellowship with the saints through the one Bread that came from the heaven. That one Bread has become my Bread to be shared with the other members of the same Body. The revelations from the Word have to be shared with the other members of the Body.
Foolish in the house of God
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding (Pro.9:6).
Let us not go with the foolish in the House of God. There are many foolish people among us who do not accept the word of God but seek revelations outside the Word. They are not open to reason as their minds are closed to receive wisdom. We have to forsake them and live and go in the way of understanding the Spirit of Wisdom.
Scorners in our midst
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning (Pro.9:7-9).
There are scorners in our midst. They ridicule you when you speak the truth. Do not reprove them. I did reprove some scorners but ultimately they did not listen to me. They had put me to a great shame.
Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. This is the acid test for a wise man. If you rebuke him, he will not hate you but will love you. You should continue to teach a wise man so that he will be yet wiser. If you teach a just man, he will increase in learning. If you teach a wicked or unjust man, he will not increase in learning.
Just avoid scorners and unjust men.
Fear of the Lord
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased (Prov.9:10-11).
The source of wisdom is the fear of the LORD. We should fear Him if we commit the sin. We should fear Him if we do not preach the truth. We should fear Him if we do not uphold the word of the truth in face of apostasy. Wisdom cannot be obtained by acquiring knowledge of the Scriptures. It is imparted by the Holy Spirit when we are completely controlled by Him in all areas of our life.
Your days will be multiplied and the years of your life increased if you have the wisdom guiding and leading you in your life. In other words, wisdom gives you health and healing. Jesus was full of wisdom.
Being wise without scorning
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it (Prov.9:12).
Do not scorn others under any circumstances. Today we scorn them who do not agree with us or who hate us. We scorn others because of a prideful spirit. The consequences of scorning are so terrible that you have to bear it. At times, we do not know whether we scorn others. Even while cutting jokes, we should not indulge in scorning. Scorning is different from rebuking. Scorning pierces and wounds the heart of the victim whereas rebuking cleanses the heart of the rebuked. The heart of Jesus was pierced due to scorning.
Let us repent of scorning. The punishment for scorning cannot be borne by you.
Foolish and strange woman
A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
To call passengers who go right on their ways:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell (Pro. 9:13-18).
This passage speaks of the sin of adultery and its terrible consequences. Of course, stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But the spiritually dead are there in the hell. The victims of this terrible sin are also in the depths of hell. The hell for these people starts from the world and ends in the hell. The person committing this sin does not know that the spiritually dead are already there. This sin, if not repented and forsaken on the earth will take the victims straight to the gates of the hell.
Clamour, simplicity and pretended innocence are the three characters of an immoral woman. She is called foolish because she knows that she is committing the foolish act which we call sin by the standards of the scriptures, even if she is an atheist. When a man looks at her, he is attracted towards her clamour through his sense of seeing. Even if you are a believer filled with the Holy Spirit, you are likely to be tempted in this area of your life. Keep your eyes off the clamour of any woman you meet. You have to make a covenant with your eyes not to look at the outside clamor of any woman you come across. But ask God to see through your prophetic eyes at her spiritual life for discernment and prayers. Simplicity of a woman you meet is also a trap for you to be enticed. A woman with a lustful heart may look simple and innocent. But you should have discernment in your spirit.
Avoid meeting any clamourous person of the opposite sex at the door of her house. Many ministers of God fall a prey to this lust when they visit the houses of believers where the housewives are alone. Even when you meet some woman who is highly placed in the society, you are likely to be attracted towards her.
Women with lustful hearts even attract strangers for adultery. Nowadays, the internet plays a key role where strangers meet one another for adultery on line viewing photos on their profile pages. Of course, stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. The sin of adultery or fornication is very terrible and is a sin not only against your body but also against God. If not repented and forsaken, this sin will lead you to the hell straightaway. Those who are not able to get deliverance from this sin on this earth are already marked as dead would ultimately land in the Hades after death.
The devil takes hold of your mind with fantasies once you watch porn on internet or in magazines. Be careful to guard your mind against such spiritual intrusions of the evil spirits. Clamour of persons of the opposite sex would create illusions in your mind and such illusions or imaginations would become idols in your heart.
This passage is also applicable to the women who are likely to be tempted by the clamour of men coupled with simplicity and pretended innocence.
Nobody even an atheist can plead innocence on the day of judgment.